The invention relates to helmets, and more particularly, to a forced air helmet heater and defroster system for sport and utility vehicles such as all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles.
Because snowmobiling is a winter activity it is necessary for snowmobile riders to be out in cold, very cold or even sub zero temperatures to enjoy their pastime. To help shield their face from the cold and for safety reasons most riders wear a full-face helmet with a face shield while snowmobiling. However, even with the helmet and shield in place, a rider's face and head can become uncomfortably and even painfully cold drastically diminishing the enjoyment a rider can experience while out in nature and even cause respiratory problems when the rider inhales such cold air, particularly in cases of respiratory diseases.
Additionally, many snowmobile riders find that the interior of their face shield and eyeglass lenses tend to "fog up" and "frost over" when the warm humid air they exhale hits the cold surfaces of their face shield and eyeglasses. This can cause serious safety problems by blurring and diminishing the rider's field of vision. While there are a number of liquid defogging solutions that can be applied to the shield, this is only a temporary fix, fogging will reoccur when the defogging solution wears off. There are also electrically heated face shields available for helmets, however, these are very low wattage devices and do not provide enough heat to sufficiently warm the supply of fresh breathing air that must continuously flush through a helmet to keep moisture and condensation to a minimum. Thus, while these electrically heated face shields may provide relief from face shield fogging they may not prevent a rider's eyeglasses from fogging, especially in sub zero temperatures, and do little to temper or warm the breathing air within the helmet before the rider inhales it.
These same problems can occur for ATV (all-terrain vehicle) riders or any other riders whose vehicle exposes them to the elements.
For the foregoing reasons there is a need for a system that will both heat and defrost the interior of a helmet.